Bolton: RSPCA inspector speaks out on 'appalling' case

The man and woman, both in their 40s, were sentenced at Bolton Crown Court earlier this month for child cruelty after they had kept a young girl in the house with a dead decaying dog and rabbit.

Neither can be named to protect the identity of their child, who has now been taken into care.

Now, RSPCA inspector Ryan King, who went into the house in July last year with animal rescue officer Jessica Pierce, has described the appalling sights and smells that confronted them.

He said: “The conditions inside were awful, the ceiling was falling down, there was faeces covering the floor.

The couple were guilty of extreme neglect (Image: RSPCA)

“Even through my face mask the smell was dreadful, a mix of faeces, ammonia and decay. There was rubbish and mess all over the counters of the kitchen.

“I spotted tins of dog food on the floor and on the side but they were all empty.”

As well as the decaying pets, Inspector King and his colleagues also discovered eight live animals including three French Bulldogs, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and four cats.

Live animals were also found (Image: RSPCA)

Several of the dogs had to be treated for fleas, and had itching and discharge in the eyes or ears, while another was suffering from a prolapsed third eyelid gland and inflammation.

But worse still was yet to be found.

Inspector King said: “There was rubbish and faeces everywhere.

“There were three dog cages in the room, two were filthy and the other was at an angle so that a dog could not get into it.

Two dead decomposing animals were found (Image: RSPCA)

“On the sofa, which had been ripped up to the point I could see the springs, I found the remains of a dog, a jawbone, part of the skull, clumps of black fur and a grey flea collar.

“The bathroom had faeces and rubbish on the floor, and in the bedroom next to the bathroom there was a rabbit cage on top of a set of drawers next to a bunk bed.

“Inside the cage was the remains of a rabbit.”

Inspectors were shocked at the state of the house (Image: RSPCA)

The girl, who had been sharing a bedroom with the rabbit, has since been taken out of the couple’s hands while all the living animals were seized by police and placed into the care of the RSPCA, where they will now be found new homes.

Both the man and women pleaded guilty to child neglect and to causing unnecessary suffering to animals when brought before the courts.

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Sentencing the couple at Bolton Crown Court earlier this month, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said he had “never seen a case of such extreme neglect.”

Each was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

The man was ordered to pay costs of £2,230, while the woman will have to pay £1,030.

They have also been banned from owning any animals at all for an unlimited length of time and will not be eligible to apply to magistrates to lift this ban for 10 years.